maeror

Forms

maeror m (genitive maerōris); third declension^[1] Also spelled moeror.^[2]

Etymology

It is from maereō “to grieve, mourn” with the suffix -or.^[3][1] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *mais- (“sad, grief”) for ⟨maereō⟩ and links it with miser “wretched”, but finds no accepted Proto-Indo-European pedigree.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Ennius, whom he dates 204–169 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was grief, sorrow, mourning, lamentation, whether secret or open, as in Cicero, who defines it as distress with weeping.^[3][2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it was sadness, grief, mourning.^[6] British Medieval Latin used it for grief and mourning, as in Bede.^[7]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.^[5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero defines it.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Grief, sorrow, mourning.^[3]

Related words

• maereō
• maestus
• maestitia
• luctus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press